Editing Cap badge (section)

===British armed forces===
[[File:Cliffecastlemus 051.jpg|thumb|right|British Army cap badges at [[Cliffe Castle Museum]], [[Keighley]]. View at max resolution to read labels.]]
{{further|Uniforms of the British Armed Forces}}

The [[British Armed Forces]] utilise a variety of metal and cloth cap badges on their headdress, generally on caps and berets. They are also worn on [[Uniforms_of_the_British_Armed_Forces#Turbans|Sikh turbans]].

====British Army====
In the [[British Army]] (as well as other [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] armies) each [[regiment]] and [[corps]] has its own cap badge. The cap badge of the [[Queen's Royal Lancers]] is called a motto by those within the regiment,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.qrlshop.co.uk/product/qrl_motto_capbadge_of_the_queen_s_royal_lancers_/|title=Queen's Royal Lancers Gift Shop|quote=QRL Motto (Cap badge of The Queen's Royal Lancers).|access-date=2009-01-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905184300/http://www.qrlshop.co.uk/product/qrl_motto_capbadge_of_the_queen_s_royal_lancers_/|archive-date=2008-09-05|url-status=dead}}</ref> that of the [[Royal Horse Artillery]] is known as a cypher and that of the [[Coldstream Guards]], [[Scots Guards]] and [[Irish Guards]] is known as a cap star.
That of the [[Grenadier Guards]] is known as the ''grenade fired proper''.

The concept of regimental badges appears to have originated with the British Army. The ''Encyclopædia Britannica''{{'}}s 1911 Edition notes that although branch badges for infantry, cavalry and so on were common to other armies of the time, only the British Army wore distinctive regimental devices.<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Uniforms#Regimental Badges|display=Uniforms § Regimental Badges |volume=27 |page=586}}</ref>

=====Cap badge variations=====

Plastic cap badges were introduced during the [[World War II|Second World War]], when metals became [[strategic material]]s. Nowadays many cap badges in the British Army are made of a material called "stay-brite" ([[anodised aluminium]], anodising is an electro-plating process resulting in lightweight shiny badge), this is used because it is cheap, flexible and does not require as much maintenance as brass badges.

Regimental cap badges are usually cast as one single piece but in a number of cases they may be cast in different pieces. For instance, the badge of the now amalgamated, [[The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons)]] was cast in two separate pieces: the Queen's Crown and the thistle forming one piece, and the stag's head and scroll with regimental motto forming a second piece (see the first picture above). 

The Royal Corps of Signals also has a two-part badge. The top being a brass crown and the bottom consisting of a silver flying body of [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]] (the winged messenger of the gods{{snd}} 'Jimmy') above a brass world and the motto {{lang|la|certa cito}} ('swift and sure').
[[File:Colonel_and_Brigadiers_Cap_Badge_British_Army.jpg|thumb|right|Cap badge of British Army colonels and brigadiers.]]
A regiment or [[battalion]] may maintain variations of the same cap badge for different ranks. These variations are usually in the badges' material, size and stylization. Variations in cap badges are normally made for:

* Officers: usually three-dimensional in design with more expensive materials such as silver, enamel and gilt. Most officers' beret badges are embroidered rather than metal or "stay-brite".
* Senior non-commissioned officers such as [[Sergeant#United_Kingdom|sergeant]]s, [[colour sergeant]]s and [[warrant officer]]s: a more elaborate design compared with those worn by other ranks but usually not as elaborate as those worn by officers.

There are exceptions such as the Welsh Guards, where all ranks wear a cloth cap badge. Officers wearing a more elaborate version compared to that of soldiers, made using [[Goldwork (embroidery)|gold thread]] and has a more three-dimensional design. The only exception to this is recruits in training who have to wear the brass (or more often "stay-brite") leek, often referred to as the "[[Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes|NAAFI]] fork", until they have passed out of training and reached their battalion will they receive their cloth leek{{Citation needed|date=May 2012}}. All ranks of the [[Special Air Service]] wear an embroidered cap badge and all ranks of [[The Rifles]] and [[Royal Regiment of Fusiliers]] wear the same metal badge.

Some regiments maintain a blackened or subdued version of their cap badges as shiny brass cap badges may attract the enemy's attention on the battlefield. However, since the practice of British soldiers operating in theatre with regimental headdress (i.e. peaked cap, beret) has all but died out, the wearing of these has become much less common in recent years.

=====Wearing conventions=====
The cap badge is positioned differently depending on the form of headdress:

*Home Service Helmet or Wolseley Helmet: above the centre between the wearer's eyebrows.
*[[Combination cap|Service dress cap]]: above the centre point between the wearer's eyebrows
*[[Beret]]: above the left eye<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/Rifles_Dress_Guidance__2013_Srl_10.pdf#search=beret |title=Archived copy |access-date=6 June 2015|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206210653/http://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/Rifles_Dress_Guidance__2013_Srl_10.pdf |archive-date=6 February 2015}}</ref>
* Side cap: Between the left eye and the left ear
* Scottish [[tam o'shanter (hat)|tam o'shanter]]: Between the left eye and the left ear
* Scottish [[glengarry]]: Between the left eye and the left ear
* Feather bonnet: Slightly off the left ear towards the left eye
* Fusilier cap or [[Busby (military headdress)|Busby]]: Slightly off the left ear towards the left eye
* Jungle hat (as worn by the [[Brigade of Gurkhas]] in Number 2 dress): Centre front or between left eye and left ear.

Soldiers of the [[Gloucestershire Regiment]] and subsequently the [[Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment]] wore a cap badge on both the front and the rear of their headdress, a tradition maintained by soldiers in [[The Rifles]] when in service dress. The back badge is unique in the British Army and was awarded to the 28th Regiment of Foot for their actions at the [[Battle of Alexandria (1801)|Battle of Alexandria]] in 1801.

Additional items that reflect a regiment's historical accomplishments, such as backing cloth and [[hackle]]s, may be worn behind the cap badge. In Scottish regiments, for instance, it is a tradition for soldiers to wear their cap badges on a small square piece of their regimental [[tartan]]s. [[Officer cadet]]s may wear a small white backing behind their badges. Members of arms such as the [[Adjutant General's Corps]] and [[Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers]] serving on attachment to other units often wear that regiment's beret or headdress but with their own Corps cap badge.

For a period leading up to [[Remembrance Day]] artificial [[Remembrance poppy#United Kingdom|poppies]] are worn by many people in the United Kingdom and [[Canada]] to commemorate those killed in war. On [[forage cap]]s the paper petals are fitted under the left hand chin strap button.

====Royal Air Force====
Cap badges in the [[Royal Air Force]] differ in design between those of commissioned officers and [[RAF other ranks|other ranks]]. In addition to caps and berets, they are also worn on [[Forage_cap#Royal_Air_Force|forage caps]].

<gallery mode="packed">
File:180406-D-SW162-1145_(40401404765)_(Smeath_cropped).jpg|The cap badge of a senior RAF officer.
File:Saxophones_Images_MOD_45160324.jpg|Cloth version of the cap badge of RAF other ranks. This version is worn on caps.
File:RAF_Reservist_MOD_45156517.jpg|Metallic version of cap badge of RAF other ranks, worn on a beret. This version is also worn by cadets in the [[Combined_Cadet_Force#Royal_Air_Force_Section|Royal Air Force Section]] of the Combined Cadet Force.
</gallery>